us. i'll talk with him in a minute. 12 people died almost 6 o others injured when the masked man sprayed a crowded movie theater with bullets. 26 people are still in the hospital in aurora. nine are in critical condition at this hour. we're here in aurora all night tonight. make sure you stay right here. stay where you are for all the details as we learn them coming up this evening. let's go to cnn's britneanna kuehler. >> the worst drought in 50 years is crippling farmers in the midwest. half of the states in the regime are reported to be in severe to exceptional drought, the region that produces 75% of the nation's corn and soybean crop. it's especially hard on live stock, many ranchers having to sell off herds early. u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon says the fighting in syria is destroying the country and many syrians would probably agree with him.

the opposition says at least 96 people were killed today as battles raged in damascus and other hot spots. dutch journalist sandra van horn is in the capital. >> reporter: a wider area of central damascus it was life almost as usual. now the last three hours a new development has been fierce fighting in the southern suburbs of damascus. i can hear heavy shelling and gun fire and it's been going on with an intensity that i didn't see before in the nine days that i'm in damascus right now. >> the rebels are making gains in other parts of syria. they've seized key towns along the furcalfurcalish -- turkish and two more defecting generals arrived in turkey overnight. about two dozen syrian journaiy have fled to turkey. a bus bomber who killed five israeli tourists this week may have had an accomplice. the suicide bomber highlighted

here blew up the tour bus wednesday at the international airport. the driver also died and more than 30 people were injured. officials tell cnn that a second suspect is a possibility but that has not been confirmed. to japan now where the government is investigating reports that workers at the fukushima nuclear power plant tried to deceive the public. allegedly they were told to use lead covers over their radiation detectors to hide unsafe radiation levels at the planlt. this reportedly occurred december 1st nine months after the plant was damaged by a major earthquake and tsunami. let's get you right back now to aurora, colorado and don lemon. don? >> all right. we'll get back to you throughout the evening with the headlines of the day. i want to get over to our ed lavendara now near james holmes' apartment building which is evacuated today because of something very frightening that police found. ed, aurora police say they are sure as hell angry and that's a quote from them.

>> reporter: well, the reason they were saying that is because according to the police chief here in aurora there was a trip wire that was along the front of the door entrance into james holmes' apartment, which is that red brick building you see just over my shoulder. the window they had been looking in through is just on the other side of it. but there was a trip wire along that door and officials say that had someone just unsuspectingly opened that door they would have been seriously injured if not killed because of all of the various explosives and other trip wires that are inside the apartment. it has taken them more than 24 hours to finally get a handle on what is going on in there. they've had bomb technicians, bomb teams from various agencies that have been inside the department. they've been using robots to defuse everything. a few hours ago, don, they actually had a controlled detonation, a water shot that was used to kind of defuse the situation and help them get a better handle on it.

because of that controlled explosion they say they have now taken care of the major explosives in there and they're hoping to begin removing all of the devices that james holmes had, they say, had set up inside that apartment. that will take several more hours to do. they say it's still a very dangerous situation. they don't know exactly what kind of materials they're dealing with but these teams now a little bit more relieved that they're able to move around perhaps a little more freely to get that, all of that equipment and stuff out of there. so that they can do the work they do. don, this is very important because they need to try to preserve as much evidence in there as possible. obviously they're very interested in getting ahold of james holmes' computers or anything else that might help them figure out what the motive was in this massacre. >> right. don? >> do you know police are also saying holmes received large volumes of deliveries in the past three months? why is that interesting to investigators? >> reporter: well, you know, even though investigators aren't putting out much in terms of

motive, if they have any indication, yet they are quick to point out interestingly enough that they feel that a lot of this was very deliberately done. we've been told by law enforcement sources that over the last few months there was a great deal -- the four guns were bought legally in various gun stores around the denver area. he's also ordered some 6,000 rounds of ammunition online and also all of the equipment and all of the ballistic gear he was wearing essentially from head to toe. don, remember all the protective gear he was wearing, a throat cover, leggings, body armor, gas masks as well as a helmet. so all of that stuff had to have been purchased and was purchased in advance not to mention all of the stuff that has been -- all of the materials that have been dumped inside of his apartment. authorities say that that is -- shows deliberation. of course that has major implications down the line when this goes to trial if james holmes decides to try some sort of mental defense in his case. authorities and prosecutors are

going to say, look. you went through a great deal of deliberation planning this out. this shows something that was well thought out not just some spur of the moment attack. >> all right. ed lavendara, stand by. we'll get back to you throughout the evening. make sure you join me tonight at 8:00 eastern for a cnn special report on the colorado theater shooting. do you know too often when stories like this happen much of the attention is focused on the bad guy. we're going to try and focus the attention instead on the victims of this tragedy. be sure to join us tonight at 8:00 eastern for that special. what would make a smart, doctoral student snap? we'll explore the possibilities with a human behavior expert straight ahead. we're learning more about the victims of this horrible tragedy. that's next.

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we're learning more today about those who died in that awful shooting rampage. our nick valencia is here. you've been learning about these people and have some of their stories. >> reporter: we've been tirelessly working the phones all morning and throughout the afternoon trying to get the latest information and confirm details. cnn has been able to independently confirm 7 of the 12 deceased but just last hour

"the denver post" naming one more victim, rebecca wingo 32 years old originally from quinlan, texas is a mother and also a local waitress at a crab shack according to her facebook page. her father steve hernandez posting a message online confirming her death saying i lost my daughter yesterday to a mad man. my grief right now is inconsolable. i hear she died instantly without pain. however, the pain is unbearable. these are just some of the messages we're hearing, don, from numerous family members i've spoken to at the cnn national desk as well as our wire team has spoken to throughout the morning. another one of the victims we confirmed earlier this afternoon. a.j. boik a high school student at gateway high school there in local aurora, colorado. he went to the movies with his girlfriend and a friend. both of them making it out alive. unfortunately a.j. perishing there in the theater. friends held a memorial service late friday. jesse childress is also among one of four service members

wounded in the mass shooting by suspect james holmes. he is described by a family member as an active duty air force reserveman 27 years old. his family lives in colorado. like many family members they didn't find out until very late last night. in fact that is one of the complaints according to some of the family members we've spoken to that they have with this whole process. john larimer is another serviceman who was shot. he also died. also 27-year-old just like jesse childress. he was in the navy less than a year and this was his first post just outside of aurora, colorado. had not seen combat duty yet. his family was notified of his death late last night and wrote to cnn. i spoke to his father in illinois, scott larimer, who is obviously very upset and distraught. he said, we send our thoughts and prayers out to families of other victims and those still recovering in the hospital. we love you, john. and we will always miss you. matt mcquinn was the fifth person we've been able to confirm. matt mcquinn, like many others,

again, his family agonizing for hours only to find out that he had died. he's just got a remarkable story, don. he shielded his girlfriend according to witnesses from those bullets of james holmes taking the bullets instead of his girlfriend. he was not able -- the girlfriend there was not able to confirm his death, unfortunately, because of the strict hipaa laws. she is not related to him. just making matters worse. all the more worse for his girlfriend, who all, you know, probably is very much showing grief right now. alex sullivan, 27-year-old celebrated his birthday last night. looking at video on friday when his parents had no idea where he was at. they were canvasing aurora, colorado only to find out late last night that he died. he was celebrating his 27th birthday as i mentioned at a midnight showing there of "the dark knight rises" and was working at the theater but not that day. chose to go on his off day. his friends describe him as a gentle giant. funny guy. smart, loving.

with a big heart. mikaela medek also 23 listed among the dead. she is described by her father's cousin where cnn confirmed her death through her father's cousin described as very spiritual and an independent girl who was great fun. i don't know if you can believe this, don. it took her family 19 hours, 19 hours to find out that she had died. her family obviously very upset about the delay and the process of confirming her death. jessica ghawi one last person to tell you about has become sort of the quintessential face of this shooting. she was an aspiring sports broadcaster who had moved from texas to denver. she took a fatal bullet to the head and died. don? >> nick, i was trying to jump in because when you said it took micayla medek's family 19 hours, i met her sister amanda at the hospital yesterday when i first got there. she was hysterical and couldn't find her sister. she told me her sister was in the theater with her friends and

got shot and her phone was still in the theater and they were trying to get her, revive her and that was the last that anyone had seen her. it took them almost 24 hours to find her. they were going from hospital to hospital and calling agency to agency. but when you have, you know, 70 people injured of course it's going to be hysteria and some things are just going to take a while. nick valencia, thank you very much. >> thank you, don. >> appreciate your reporting right now. he was a doctoral student in the neuro science program. top honors in college. what would make someone like this snap? if he just snapped? we'll talk with our human behavior expert, next. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve

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friday's mass shooting at a colorado movie theater has shocked people around the world. to most of us we can just -- just can't get our heads around somebody doing something like this. our human behavior expert dr. wendy walsh joins me now. let's talk about the alleged shooter in a moment dr. wendy. first this story seems to affect everybody in some way. why do moments like this hit us so hard? >> because human beings are blessed with empathy and compassion. we are all parents. we are brothers. we are sisters. we are cousins.

we are husbands. we are wives. we imagine what it would be like to happen to our family and we have great grief for others because we're all connected, don. >> yeah. let's talk about the shooter now or the alleged shooter. we don't really know much about the young man in custody. but when you saw his pictures you heard the details about him, what did you think? did anything catch your attention? >> well, i read a lot online about people that knew him early in life. they called him socially awkward but a nice guy if you got to know him. once you did he was witty and fun. one high school friend said she found it weird that he always rooted for the villain rather than the hero in some of these action movies. i don't know what he was suffering from but definitely something happened this spring because it was in may that he began accumulating ammunition and guns and bomb making equipment and that's also when he began the process of quitting

or extracting himself from his ph.d program in neuro science because of bad grades. this is a really bright guy who suddenly in one semester took a downturn. something was going on. >> yeah. something -- obviously. you said to one of my producers which i found interesting that his interest in neuro science may be significant. why is that? >> well, universities are well aware, don, that a small percentage of people who are attracted to psychology, psychiatry, and neuro science are actually there because on some level they know something is up and they're trying to heal themselves. and universities try very hard through interviews and personal statements to try to exclude those people or steer them, counsel them into another program if you will. but he may very well be interested in, have been interested in this subject matter because on some level he knew that there was something wrong with his brain physiology, his brain chemistry. >> some of the stories that we have been hearing from this

tragedy, bravery, selflessness, even in the most horrible moments, something so amazing rises to the surface of many people. is that usually training or is that strength or is it just within us? >> you know, we talked about this before when we've had other tragedies, don. some people in shock cower, freeze. other people become highly activated and protective. it's instinctive and everybody has their own way. of course it can be aided with training. but i was just so proud of all the men out there and the stories you heard of shielding women, shielding children, blocking them with their bodies. you know, men have taken such a beating in our media in recent years. we hear about unemployment and male depression and election problems and deadbeat dads. and to see men at their finest being amazing protectors and doing what guys do best, i had tears in my eyes listening to some of these stories. it was great. >> yeah. so did some of the investigators

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one of the mysteries surrounding the theater shooting suspect is his personal background. he has been described as clean cut, responsible, and smart. but hardly anyone seems to have known him well. and those who do know him say they never noticed anything suspicious. cnn's drew griffin part of our investigative unit is checking on his story and has more. >> reporter: he had been living not far from this movie theater for the past year because it was also close to the university of colorado medical school where holmes was a graduate student in neuro sciences. according to the school he was in the process of withdrawing as a student last month. the school won't tell us much about his grades, the classes he took, or anything else. we do know he did give a student lecture this past march on something called micro rna biomarkers. if you look it up it's about an emerging area of neuro science,

the study of nerves that relate to cancer research, and the school says holmes worked in a paid position there as well. but no details. before that it was a middle, upper class upbringing in california. high school in san diego and under graduate degree from the university of california in riverside in 2010. school administrators there said he had an outstanding academic record. >> he was an honor student. so academically he was at the top of the top. you know, he really distinguished himself from an academic point of view during his four years with us. graduating with highest honors. >> so how is this honor student, this ph.d candidate, this budding neuro scientist suddenly becoming a completely different person dressed and according to police armed to kill? >> the suspect was dressed all in black. he was wearing a ballistic helmet, a tactical ballistic

vest, ballistic leggings, throat protector, groin protector, and gas mask and black tactical gloves. >> was the person delusional? was there mental illness involved? as we try to piece this together i want to share with you what new york city police commissioner ray kelly had released on what he learned of the suspect that may have a tie to the movie. >> we have some information. i believe most of it is public. cody looks like a deranged individual. he had his hair painted red. he said he was the joker. >> that was cnn's drew griffin reporting. he is a popular movie actor familiar with playing bad guys on the big screen. we'll talk live with steven baldwin about violence in movies and whether it's a factor in tragic incidents like one that played out here. that's straight ahead. in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf.

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this story absolutely still developing, happening more than 24 hours ago, but we are naming more victims in this tragic shooting. let's go to our international world headquarters in atlanta. nick valencia, what do you know? >> reporter: don, cnn can now name a ninth victim as a result of this fatal mass shooting in aurora, colorado. 24-year-old alex teades of phoenix, arizona. he is described as his aunt as being a graduate school student that just completed his work there. again, originally from phoenix, arizona. he was living in aurora doing graduate work and is described as an avid arizona basketball fan and leaves behind two brothers. this just in to cnn, 24-year-old alex teades of phoenix, arizona

who was living and studying as a graduate student in aurora, colorado is the ninth victim. cnn now can independently confirm died on friday. don? >> another family grieving. thank you very much for that, nick valencia. we want to go to cnn's other headlines. >> the worst drought in more than 50 years is crippling farmers in the midwest. half of the states in the region are reported to be in severe to exceptional drought. this is the region that produces about 75% of the nation's corn and soybean crop. this drought is especially hard on live stock. many ranchers having to sell off their herds early. u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon says the fighting in syria is destroying the country. the opposition says at least 96 people were killed today as battles raged in damascus and other hot spots. dutch journalist sander van hoorn is in the capital.

>> reporter: a wider area of central damascus it was life almost as usual. now the last three hours new developments have been fierce fighting in the southern suburbs of damascus. i can hear heavy shelling and gunfire and it's been going on with an intensity that i didn't see before in the nine days that i'm in dplas cuamascus right no >> rebels are making gains in other parts of syria. they've seized key towns along the turkish border and in another sign the regime may be crumbling two more defecting generals arrived in turkey overnight. officials say two dozen syrian generals have now fled to turkey. in bulgaria officials say a bus bomber who killed five israeli tourists this week may have had an accomplice. the suicide bomber, the man highlighted here, blew up the tour bus wednesday at the international airport. the driver also died and more than 30 people were injured. officials tell cnn that a second suspect is a possibility but

that has not been confirmed. let's head back now to you, don, in aurora, colorado. >> all right. thank you very much. as reports come out that the alleged theater shooter may have dyed his hair red and called himself the joker, we've been hearing questions like this. this one from filmmaker david cromwell. >> i work in the industry. i'm a director, actor, i've played a killer. i don't know whey feel about what's happened. i think we in our industry have some responsibility. not for james holmes', you know, behavior. he probably would have been, you know, gone this route no matter what the movie was at the time. but did we give him a blueprint? did we show him how to do it? >> so originally, you were going

to come on and talk about your new movie until these shootings. what is the movie? >> loving a bad man about a lady who suffers a tragedy in her personal life and overcomes it. >> i want your unique perspective. you just happened to be in the area. you've played bad characters in films and been in many violent films. >> sure. >> basically what kromiller the film maker was saying is maybe there is some responsibility hollywood has and in some way we are initiating some of this. what do you think? >> i think it is fair to say media, movies, video games, things like that do desensitize a lot of people in situations like this. i think you can't fully credit that for situations like this. this guy obviously snapped. he planned this thing. makes no sense. evil has entered into the picture here. >> right. >> this guy has just gone crazy. it's tragic. >> i looked at some of your old interviews and you have talked about violence in films before and you've been very vocal recently taking a stand against vulgar and content in movies. do you think people are directly

affected by the violence, sort of, i don't know, kind of similar to the first question i had, that we don't even realize that it's almost like it's subliminal and it's okay? >> yes. back to what i was saying a little bit ago particularly video games. there is a desensitizing that happens i think with a lot of people. i don't think that's the case here. this guy obviously is nuts. it's a bad situation. i'd like to just say for myself that i'd like to ask the entire country to be praying for aurora right now. i think that's going to be something that is going to bring back a lot of hope and make a lot of healing happen around here. this is beyond everyone's comprehension. >> and to be clear, as we reel from what happened here in aurora we're not pointing the finger at the movie makers. >> not at all. >> i want to read a statement from the director of "the dark knight rises" and he says i believe movies are one of the great american art forms and a shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important, enjoyable pastime. the movie theater is my home and

the idea someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me. so, still, there is a responsibility even though it may not be directly. maybe it's a chance for us to all step back and even in media, what we do. >> sure. >> all of us to step back and take a look. >> and even in regard to second amendment people and guns and all of that. you know, this guy purchased 6,000 rounds in the six to eight weeks prior. perhaps, i don't know. i'm a gun advocate. i am. and obviously this is tragic. i don't want to go there with the whole guns aren't the problem thing. i believe in personal protection myself but i think that maybe in the future as part of the patriot act -- >> should you be able to buy 6,000 rounds in a short amount of time? >> with these things continuing to happen? now even as a gun enthusiast it's making me say, maybe there needs to be a change. >> all right. so as a gun enthusiast you know the nra gun rights, advocates,

whatever, they're going to be listening and oh, my gosh. steven baldwin. >> no, no. i -- >> what do you say to them? >> it's like i said. guns and weapons are part of our police force, military. they protect us. in the right hands they do good. in the wrong hands we stand here today. but i definitely think maybe there should be new thinking with the technology we have to monitor people when these types of situations occur. >> people say the people who designed and wrote our constitution what they didn't think about, they didn't know about these semiautomatic weapons that can give off hundreds of rounds very quickly. >> sure. do you believe that? and the second part of my question do you think the gun lobby is too strong maybe in washington? >> listen, i think as, you know, our nation advances and things change and things like this -- i'm not going to deny that when things like this happen, it needs to be re-evaluated. there is no question.

i don't think it's right for people who are common sense logical, you know, law abiding citizens, to not have the right to bear arms and defend themselves. i agree with that. i'm one of them. >> i don't think anyone says that shouldn't happen. just the amount of it. >> right. >> and the ease, how easy it is to get it. right? >> i think as we progress we always have to step back and evaluate in the future what that means. >> yeah. very good. you're very careful. very honest. it made you rethink yourself. >> yeah. again, with the patriot act, there's monitoring and surveillance that's allowed to happen. i think a red flag should have gone up when this guy bought 6,000 rounds of something in such a short period of time. >> absolutely. thanks for being honest. we appreciate you dropping by and the film again is? >> love and the bad man. i just want to say hey to everybody in cheyenne, frontier days, rodeo, everybody from western wishes.org i'm down there doing something for a nice charity called western wishes. they let me come up here and talk to you. >> good to talk to you.

thank you. stand by. we'll talk to you after this. why would the suspect booby trap his apartment and then warn police? we'll talk to a veteran law enforcement officer next. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. why does my mouth feel dryer than i remember it to be? there are more people taking more medication, so we see people suffering from dry mouth more so. we may see more cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. a dry mouth sufferer doesn't have to suffer. i would recommend biotene. the enzymes in biotene products help supplement enzymes that are naturally in saliva. biotene helps moisten those areas that have become dry.

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i'm don lemon reporting live in aurora, colorado. at that movie theater just over 24 hours ago a man went on a rant and shot 70 people, injured 70 people, killing 12 of them. ten laid there for hours and hours inside that movie theater and two died at the hospital. there are many more victims of this. the loved ones who are having to deal with this tragedy. thousands and thousands of people, families all across this country of the victims that were inside that theater. you know, we had been talking about these explosive devices that are supposedly inside the apartment of this young man belonging to that suspect. let's talk about it more now with alex manning one of our regulars back in atlanta, a 15-year veteran of law enforcement i should say and instructor at the georgia police academy. alex, thank you for joining us.

why would a guy who was going to open fire in a theater booby trap his own apartment? could it be to maybe hide evidence or just because? >> sure. hot evidence, obviously injure police officers. first i thought maybe it was a diversion tactic. for instance there would be this tragedy here and explosion which would have all public safety officers there and then they get the 911 calls from the cinema that there is something happening there. >> yeah. so if he is trying to cover his tracks, right, as to what he was doing here, then once he is in custody why would he tell police that he booby trapped the place? >> maybe to prove or watch it all go down where he can show he's smarter than the cops. you know, if this still happens he can show himself, i'm smarter than the cops. it still blew up. they couldn't defuse the bombs i set up. >> what about the weapons? i'm sure you heard me talking about the guns, all of them purchased legally. is there any way to prevent people who may have issues like

this suspected shooter from getting guns at -- prior to the run-in with police before they'd go shoot up a place? >> well, don, nobody obviously had saw this coming, so you wouldn't have been able to predict what he would do. he got it legally. you can tighten gun laws. however, people are going to have a -- determined to get a gun are going to get a gun. they're going o get it legally. they're going to get it illegally. this guy was obviously educated and smart enough he could have harmed them with the bombs he was making. he didn't need a gun. he was going to find a way to hurt people. >> so do you think it's when people say, and i've been looking at social media after that interview with steven baldwin when they said, don, it is, some people say it is the guns. it is the guns. it's not necessarily guns but automatic weapons and people should not have such easy access to them. even if he had bought, you know, 6,000 rounds of ammunition a year ago, that's still a problem. is it the guns or is it the person? >> i think it's the people, don.

he was going to find a way to harm people. if his parents didn't see it coming, if people didn't see it coming he was going to find a way. you need to look at our mental health system. obviously he is mentally ill but he is pure evil. he is pure evil. that doesn't get diagnosed until after the fact. >> yes, sadly. alex manning, thank you. we appreciate it. >> thank you don. a survivor chokes back tears as he describes how he and his new wife ducked for cover as bullets sprayed over them. you'll hear it just ahead. ess. a sausage link. mermaid. honey!? driftwood. come on, you gotta help us out here a little. [ male announcer ] febreze eliminates odors and leaves carpets fresh. ♪ [ male announcer ] febreze. eliminates odors and leaves carpets fresh. ♪

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to do social services, to be a social worker. >> it's not a gift. she agrees to pay it forward to three other survivors. >> i'm going to help three women get their ged. >> these women need to know that they deserve their dream and have the power to create it. >> i got so much help, she enabled me to buy a sewing machine, and i realized i should be a person who not only receives help, but gives help. >> one woman can make a difference, but women working together can change the world. back now live in aurora, colorado. earlier, i spoke with a victim of the shooting. still recovering in her hospital bed, her name is christina blache. she told me that she served in iraq, one tour there, and i asked her if the theater shooting was anything like she'd seen in a war zone. >> can you forgive him, the gunman? >> can i forgive him?

probably not today, not tomorrow, eventually. i'm a pretty, i guess, laid-back and kind of outgoing person. yeah, i like to move on. i don't like to keep dwelling on the past. so eventually, yeah, i'd be able to forgive him. not just right now. he killed somebody i cared about and he injured a heck of a lot of my friends so, for right now, no. down the road, yeah. >> that was actually a different part of our conversation when i asked her if she could forgive the shooter. she said, eventually she could. but when i talked to her about the war zone, what she said was, no, it wasn't like anything she had ever seen in a war zone, because when you go to war zone, you expect that you could possibly lose your life. when you're sitting in a movie theater, she says you're not prepared for it. back to our top story. the investigation into the massacre at a movie theater in aurora, colorado.

one survivor choked back tears as he explained how he and his new wife and best friend ducked for cover. he and his wife were slightly injuredly shrapnel, but his friend josh was shot in the arm and the leg. >> i'm actually, i'm really okay, me, my new wife, and my best friend josh went into the movie together. it was right after the opening action scene. it was quiet and the canister or whatever going across the theater and then the fizzing of it, and then the shooting. just the gun going off, josh helped me protect my wife and he got shot. it's just, it wasn't expected.

but i'm glad he was there with us, because the three of us together, you know, we piled on each other and we kept each other safe. >> so many sad stories that are coming out of these tragedies. up next, we are going to talk about movie theaters changing their security plans in light to have this mass shooting. my volt is the best vehicle i've ever driven.

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many theaters are now reviewing their security plans. here's cnn's mary snow. >> reporter: vehicles are now posted outside of new york city theaters showing "the dark knight rises." the nypd is not responding to any specific threat, just hoping to prevent any copy cats. >> we're just concerned that perhaps someone seeking notoriety will attempt to do something similar. we always hear that when a high-profile event happens. so we're doing this to sort of raise the comfort level of people who are going to the movies. >> reporter: at one multiplex theater outside new york city, security goes far beyond comfort level. it's been using metal detectors for more than two decades. >> i think it's more of an inconvenience, actually. going through the metal detectors, but after what happened yesterday, i do feel more safe. >> i actually feel safer, you know, coming to movie theaters knowing there's a metal detector. i feel more safe. >> reporter: the detectors were installed in 1990 after gunfire

broke out during an argument on the opening night of "the god father iii." at the time, one person was killed and three people injured. the valley stream theater, according to a security consultant, who worked on the security plan, was one of the first movie theaters in the country to install the detectors. he says certain factors were considered. >> we look at crime statistics in and around the area to see what type of crimes have occurred. is it a high-crime area? does it justify certain level of technology or, you know, additional measures that might not be needed in another area? >> reporter: in the mass shootings in aurora, authorities say the gunman entered through a fire exhibit. former fbi assistant director and cnn contributor, tom fuentes. >> in the case of a metal detector, it would have done no good. because this person, you're not talking about someone who brought weapons in through the front of the theater, through the ticket taker entrance or anything like that. >> reporter: individual movie

chains decline to discuss specific security measures, but their umbrella group, the national association of theater owners, said in a statement, "members are working closely with local law enforcement agencies and reviewing security procedures." the national association of theater owners says it doesn't have a number of how many theaters in the u.s. use metal detectors. one immediate change in security, though, here at amc theaters is that moviegoers will not be allowed in the theater wearing costumes or mask. mary snow, cnn, new york. >> thanks for watching. i'm don lemon in aurora, colorado. a live "situation room" with wolf blitzer begins right now. happening now -- police blast into the caused colorado killer's apartment. >> this is some serious stuff that our team is dealing with. >> and discovered devices boopy trapped to kill. plus, stories of heroism among the gunfire, and chilling tales

of survival. >> i was just thinking, we've got to get out. >> just a few millimeters in or sent meters in, and i don't think i would have left the theater. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." right now, explosives experts in aurora, colorado, are putting themselves in harm's way. they are trying to make sure the apartment left booby trapped by the suspect in the colorado shootings is finally saved. a few hours ago, we watched as crews carefully placeded a robot in the apartment and then waited for it to set off an explosion to take out the triggering devices for the ma